Vitality
by blushinglily
Summary: To put it bluntly, the girl was dull, naive, and plainly boring. That's how he's always perceived her to be. Hitsugaya/Hinamori/Hyourinmaru


**_Disclaimer_:** I do not own any of these characters or the series itself. Everything belongs to their respective owners.

**Author's Notes: **Takes place somewhere after the Winter War and before the anime-only arc, Zanpakutou Unknown Tales. While writing this, I thought I knew the answer to Hyourinmaru's question, but now, I don't know. Hitsugaya's character and relationship with Hinamori has always fascinated me (and yes, I am a HitsuHina fangirl), but meh, whatever. I hope the characters aren't too OOC. Anyhow, enjoy!

**Update...12/22/2010::** Edited some lines and fixed spelling mistakes.

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Watching from the back of his master's mind, his silver eyes followed her lithe form, careful and guarded as she danced on the ice with her bizarre-looking shoes: long, dull blades running underneath it as its edges scraped the pristine crystal that was the lake's water. He made no acknowledgement of her instructor and teacher as she guided the girl's moves, firmly holding out her hands around her pupil's body (but not necessarily touching her) as she followed suit to her student's movements.

The sound of metal scratching the delicate, clear surface of the lake sounded foreign in his ears, as he'd only heard his own element shatter and crash against hollows and human skin all this time.

She was wearing a short (not to mention _strange_) dress, the color of his master's eyes with oriental flower prints, the glittering piece of attire outlining her slim shoulders and graceful, promenading hips. Her movement with her body was fluid and almost had a flair of dramatic into it as she flung out her arms in a sensual gesture, her hands landing around her waist as she ran the length of her side up to just below her rib cage, and then bringing them up again into the air, swaying her hips to the imaginary music that was without a doubt, playing in her mind.

The teacher had long gone stepped aside towards the farther edge of the lake to give the girl space and a little bit of free-style dancing.

The truth of the matter was, it was hard to imagine that this clumsy girl, who he'd witnessed being protected by his master for so long, can actually move like this. Although he'd kept it to himself, he'd never really pictured the girl to be graceful and alluring. More like silly and dumb was what he would have said.

But now, not so much.

She danced the entire length of the lake, twirling as she went with flowing spins, turns, and twists and at one point, even did a strange complicated move that involved her stretching the length of her spine way back as she lifted her left leg slowly, and grabbed the heel of her foot by hooking her finger around the small space between the actual shoe and where the blade is attached, and bringing her leg forward, so the heel was just barely behind her head, as she balanced herself solely on her right foot, her speed slowing down to a mere skid. She had a dreamy expression on her face, almost as if she were an angel descending down from heaven.

For a moment, his master's breath caught, and they were both mesmerized. The glow of perspiration just barely radiated off her face, and she was enchanting.

While he broke out of his reverie, his master kept still behind the bush, staring and entranced. He gave a small snicker and continued to watch with him.

This little performance the girl was putting on for nobody was actually a sport called 'ice skating', as he learned just a little while ago from his curious owner, who remembered seeing something like this when he'd gone on a mission to the real world, and he was sent to a strange country that held an event called "Winter Olympics". It was a sport meant to emphasize the grace of the human body through gymnastic-like movements and put meaning into them through vivid expressions and specific body language. Apparently, the girl learned about this sport a few years back and oh so delighted with such a beautiful notion, decided to learn it for herself.

Inwardly, he shook his head, amused by it all.

Humans of the transient world were such fascinating creatures, he thought. He'd always assumed that his element was nothing more than a unique weapon, used to kill and eliminate. The fact that those fragile beings actually made use of it for something other than killing did so elude him.

Indeed.

He continued to watch from the back of his master's mind, his undivided attention solely for the girl as she kept spinning and turning on the frozen body of water. By this time, her bun ad fallen out of place and her dark locks cascaded past her shoulders.

His master did a wonderful job freezing the lake in junction as to how the wind patterns were today, timing their onslaught of ice when the wind died down and the waves calmed, merely for a few seconds, before another gust would have sent it to a miniature raging ocean.

It's winter now, and the chill of a December wind felt soothing after a long, rainy, and miserable autumn.

Prior to coming outside the city, as most vice-captains (let alone _captains_), rarely visited Rukongai, unless it was for the holidays to visit family or to leave for the transient world, he watched an encounter between his master and the girl just a few days ago.

While the city had been engulfed in winter winds and scattered showers of snow here and there, the weather hadn't actually been cold enough to naturally freeze the lake. Even if it had, the thin sheet of ice that would have formed would have been too weak to hold the girl's weight, as light as she was already. The girl had asked his master if he wouldn't mind freezing the lake for a short while, just a few days at most.

Of course, as his master was quite a workaholic with his job and wanted her out his hair as quickly as possible so that nothing else may hold him back for finishing the day's paperwork, he complied, though begrudgingly when she wouldn't tell him the reason as to why she wanted the stupid lake frozen. She had smiled cheerfully and told his master it was a secret. Taking the temptation to see just _what the heck_ she was up to as bait, his master obviously felt like he had no choice but to follow her, and this is how they got in this odd predicament: hiding near the bushes and woodland that surrounded the lake, spying on the girl as she danced her heart out.

As they both watched her move, beads of sweat now rolling down her face despite the chilly air, the zanpakutou spirit couldn't help but feel baffled by it all: with the girl, with his master, with what the hell is happening _right now_.

To put it bluntly, the girl was dull, naive, and plainly boring. That was how he'd always perceived her to be from the very beginning since he realized that this girl was the one who prompted his master's motivation to learn _his _name, that she was dear to him, that he would not be merciful to anyone who dares even think about harming her. In his own eyes, she trusted too much and saw only the good in other people; the complete opposite of his dear owner who instead tended to be somewhat critical, cautious, and thoroughly aware of other people's actions.

She was warm and kind, his master was _ice_. She was older, but his master was wiser and _meaner_. She preferred to have the company of friends, while his master favored to be alone to get his work done. She loved everyone artlessly, even her enemies, and she was forgiving. His master loved carefully, afraid to let his guard down except to the people who are closest to him. She was a _tiny_ bit of a scatterbrain and somewhat slow when it comes to handling the tasks assigned to her position, but his master was intelligent and a genius, able to quickly and efficiently complete the tasks assigned to him.

In other words, they were complete _opposites_. Their features, personality, and character, even right down to the very color of their hair, were exactly that one word: opposite.

_Why_?

He growled softly at his frustration, loud enough so that his master silently questioned him if there was anything wrong. He shook his head, as if in annoyance, and his master went back to watching the girl and ignoring the dragon, but still suspicious.

His master was _him, _and he was _his_ master. So why doesn't he know the answer to such a simple question?

_Why?_

Why did his master take a liking (more than a _liking_) for this girl who really had nothing special about her, except for the fact that she's quite skilled with her kidou? Why does his passionate nature explode whenever something happens to her? What makes her so _endearing_ to him?

They were different! As different as _night_ and _day_! Yet he cherished her, and not just because she was his childhood friend. No, the spirit knew, knew it as much as his master's name, that it went deeper than that. He knew that his master's second in-command knew him as a child, but even then, even if the beautiful woman who had encouraged his master to become a shinigami was important in the boy's life, he didn't nearly hold her in such high regard as much as the woman who was dancing right in front of them. His master only lost his real temper around this girl.

What makes her so _different_?

Personally, he would have preferred someone else for his master, mayhaps his second in-command or the other lady who wielded the same element as him, and was once scheduled to be executed, until the orange-haired boy rescued her. Even the tomboy he had met in the transient world a few months back, who was supposedly the orange-haired one's little sister, would have been his choice if he had been able to pick. Nonetheless, he never imagined his wielder would be attracted to this ordinary girl of all people. She was not as beautiful as the blonde, buxom woman nor was she as skilled as the one who is said to be the wielder of the most beautiful zanpakutou of Soul Society. Yet, she's able to enthrall his master's attention, his master who is considered to be one of the most powerful captains among the Gotei 13 and wields _him_, the most powerful ice/water-type zanpakutou.

Perhaps...

Perhaps he had missed something. Perhaps there is something else behind those cinnamon-brown eyes, past the betrayal and trauma she has endured. Past the innocence she harbors and the courage she possesses. Perhaps he had missed _something_. Something that inevitably pulls his master to her world. Regardless, with time, he hopes to find it as well.

As he watches her dance, now as equally entranced as his wielder, perhaps it would do good to let go of his current perception of this girl. Perhaps it is time to re-assess his judgment and take a closer look. Because as they watch her twirl across his-no, _their _ice, paying homage to their element, her own unique beauty calling out to the both of them, he thinks, at that moment, she couldn't have been anymore perfect for Hitsugaya Toushiro.


End file.
